Türk Uyku Tıbbı Dergisi (Dec 2020)
Daytime Sleepiness and Sleep Hygiene in Medical Faculty Students
Abstract
Objective:Sleep is important to maintain health and quality of life. An intensive medical training may lead to sleep deprivation among students. Inadequate sleep hygiene disrupts daily life activities due to the lack of daytime alertness. This study was carried out to evaluate the daytime sleepiness of medical school students and to examine sleep hygiene and factors affecting sleep hygiene.Materials and Methods:This cross-sectional descriptive study involved medical students of Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University Faculty of Medicine and was carried out between October 2019 and November 2019. A questionnaire containing 23 items about demographic characteristics and sleep habits, the Epworth Sleepiness scale (ESS) and the Sleep Hygiene index (SHI) were used. ESS was used to evaluate daytime sleepiness, and high scores indicated daytime sleepiness. SHI was used to evaluate the presence of sleep hygiene. A high SHI score (SHIS) indicates that the participant has a poor sleep hygiene status.Results:Of the 273 participants, 57.5% are women, and the average age was 21.38±2.37 years. Sixth graders had the highest SHIS (34.41±5.26), and second graders had the lowest SHIS (30.14±6.65); a significant difference was found between the groups (p=0.035). Sleep hygiene was worse in students who kept vigils (p=0.01). On the comparison of the ESS scores, 22.3% of the students scored 11 points and above, and they experienced excessive sleepiness. A significant and good positive correlation was found in the comparison of SHIS and ESS scores (p=0.001, r=0.245). The mean SHIS of those with daytime sleepiness was 34.45±6.28, and the average of those without daytime sleepiness was 31.59±6.15 and the difference was statistically significant (p=0.002).Conclusion:A good sleep pattern may lead to better performance of medical students who are taking intensive medical courses and aspiring to become successful physicians. Appropriate student counselling on the stresses of medicine can provide important benefits.
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